Epilogue Lissa
Twelve months later…
Lissa carried her bucket down the hill to the sunny clearing on the hillside, where she found the best wild strawberries. Though tiny, the berries always seemed to hold as much flavor as larger varieties. She bent to pick the first few she spotted, finding the motion more difficult than usual.
She discovered two more berries and popped them in, their tart juice incredible.
The fingertip-sized fruit were sweet and sun-warm and perfect.
After picking a handful, she savored three more.
She reached for another plant and adjusted her position.
She still wasn’t used to the way her body had already changed with the pregnancy.
Her body was stiffer, making bending awkward.
With a soft involuntary smile, she stroked her new baby bump.
She couldn’t wait to be a mother. Though early, she could feel the difference in herself in small ways, like needing to crouch to put on shoes or pick berries.
But those things would be temporary, and being part of a family mattered more.
Lissa stood and stretched before moving to the next berry patch in the June sunshine, soaking up the warmth on her skin.
She tipped her face to the sky, closing her eyes and filling her lungs with fresh air.
Yesterday, Cam had teased her about her freckles coming back.
She probably should put on her hat, but first, she wanted a few more minutes of sun.
They’d been back from xTerra and her first winter in the bunker city for almost two months, but it had only been sunny for a few weeks.
The new two-home system seemed just right, allowing them to interact with their small group of friends and Cam’s brothers while at xTerra, yet allowing them the freedom and peace of their summer home. It also wouldn’t hurt to be near the Medical Center when the baby was due this fall.
The warm breeze caressed her face and carried her worries away, drifting on the air with cottonwood fluff and the rich smell of growing things.
Putting on her sun hat, she searched the ground for more delicious fruit.
Finding a patch, she crouched again, this time adding most of her sweet harvest to her container, only stealing a few to taste.
Her mouth watered. They’d be incredible tonight as homemade ice cream.
Cam had revolutionized her place, taking an old walk-in freezer and turning it into an insulated cold room which he stocked with large blocks of ice.
He’d also made a portable, hand-cranked ice cream machine over the winter that they brought to Crawford when they’d returned.
She loved that he was always tinkering and making improvements.
Cam’s footsteps came up the hill as he passed her latest berry patch while wheeling one of the new bikes he’d rescued. “Hey Beautiful. Want some help?” He leaned his bike on the kickstand and started hunting for strawberries. “Or maybe just company.”
“Sure.” She didn’t bother passing him the bucket. Chances are, he would eat everything he found. No matter, there was a mountainside full to share.
He picked a handful of berries and ate them before stretching out on the hillside in the tall, pale green grass that swayed in the breeze with a whisper.
She sat beside him and placed the bucket between them. He reached inside and came up with another handful.
“You can’t eat them all if we want strawberry ice cream later.” She chose a particularly large one for herself. She reached for another. “Maybe just a couple.”
Cam grinned. “Ice cream can be one dessert. I want you for the other.” He leaned over, his strawberry-flavored lips kissing hers, one hand tangling in her hair behind her head as he tugged her closer. Around them, the hum of insects and bird song faded as she enjoyed the moment.
She sighed. Life out here felt perfect.
“Did you find the kittens?” he said eventually. Luna had been pregnant when they’d left xTerra, having escaped to spend a weekend outside just before their departure. He lay flat, his hands folded behind his head. Lissa did the same, staring up at a pair of hawks soaring overhead on a thermal.
“Not yet, but I spotted Luna hauling one across the yard. I’ll give her a few days, then I’ll search them out. What do you say to going fishing tomorrow down by the old fort?”
Cam laced his fingers together with hers. “Sounds just right.”
They lay there for a while, until he dozed off in the afternoon sun, his hat tipped over his face. Lissa slipped her hand away with a fond smile and resumed berry picking. Some time later, with her container almost full, she turned to find Cam sitting and watching.
“Thank you for everything,” he said. “I was just thinking about how different my life is from a year and a half ago. I have everything I ever wanted. A beautiful wife, a child on the way, more cats than I know what to do with, projects, freedom, a home. All because of you.”
“So, you’re saying fracturing your foot was lucky.”
He grinned, his dimple appearing. “Guess so. You ready to head home? We can make dinner and ice cream.”
She stretched. He took her hand, and they walked, the tightness in her back from stooping for berries loosening. They wound their way up the path, through the gate, and to their house. They really had the best of both worlds, the old and the new, xTerra and Crawford.
This was the life she’d always wanted. Cam was her home, and she was his, for whatever else came their way, they were happy and together.